Banc ABC Quarantines Four Employees Over Covid-19

BANC ABC Zimbabwe has put four of its employees who had a meeting with Zoro Makamba, the first casualty of Coronavirus (COVID-19) in Zimbabwe.

By Michael Gwarisa

Zoro Makamba succumbed to symptoms of Covid-19 early this morning at Wilkins Infectious disease hospital.

In a statement, the banks managing director, Dr Lance Mambondiani said the deceased had visited their Mount Pleasant campus on Tuesday, 17 March, 2020 at 11:30 am where he met four of their staff members for about 15 minutes.

The bank was subsequently advised that the patient had tested positive for Covid-19 on Saturday morning and immediately activated recommended protocols in consultation with the City Health Department.

“Out of the abundance of caution, all employees who interacted with the patient and their contact persons were immediately identified for further management. Whilst none of the effected employees have shown any symptoms, prevention measures which include a 14 day self-quarantine, as per health officials guidelines, have been activated,” said Dr Mabondiani.

He added that they have activated Covid-19 prevention measures across all its branches across the globe as well as sanitising of their head office and branches.

“Additionally, in adherence to recommended social distancing practices, virtual workplace and remote working facilities have been initiated for the majority of our staff. Coronavirus is a global pandemic which can potentially affect anyone anywhere.

“We take the health of our staff and customers seriously. The bank remains committed to creating a safe environment for all our stakeholders and has put together necessary interventions and resilient protocols to enable business continuity through this crisis.”

He also said the Covid-19 does not affect the bank’s ability to deliver on critical services and urged all citizens to take the pandemic seriously to avoid contracting the disease.